Dear Sister, Your Brother
by dottsie
Summary: Penumbra and The Dash were the most efficient supers this side of Municiberg. They knew each other's moves, each other's mindsets; the two worked together even better than their parents did in their prime. Violet and Dashiell Parr, however, did not.


Penumbra and The Dash were the most efficient supers this side of Municiberg. They knew each other's moves, each other's mindsets; the two worked together even better than their parents had in their prime.

Violet and Dashiell Parr, however, did not.

They disagreed and clashed heads on too many things to count. One place to start is their opinions on super names. They could not, and would not, be _just_ Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's children forever.

Violet chose hers after picking up a library book on shadows and light waves. _Penumbra: a space of partial illumination between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light._ She liked that. It implied that she was off to the side, toeing the line between the dark and the light. It worked with both her powers and her personality, and it had a nice ring to it.

Dashiell, on the other hand, just went with his childhood nickname with an article attached to the front. The Dash. When asked about his reasoning by his parents, he shrugged, saying that it sounded good. It was self-explanatory.

Violet claimed Dash was, quote, "a dumbass" for choosing something so similar to his secret identity. It was why she hadn't picked Ultraviolet as her super persona. In response, he flicked her forehead and said he would just start going by Dashiell. Problem solved, in his mind.

The two of them went on their first mission alone the day Dash turned sixteen. Violet had graduated high school by then, and was attending a college close by, which was why Bob and Helen agreed to let them go in the first place; they didn't want their children fighting crime without adult supervision, but one of their children wasn't a child anymore.

Despite a _lot_ of teasing from Violet and complaining from Dash about the adult supervision rule, the night went off without a hitch.

It surprised neither of them. They had both been using their powers in tandem since before either of them started high school. They knew when to divide and conquer, and they knew when to combine their abilities. The job that night had only been some old loser who called himself _Bomb Voyage_ , and they were able to take him down quickly, but despite the easiness of the arrest, it was a huge confidence boost for both of them.

When they got home to their parents (who were waiting up all night for their children's return), they were treated to lots of hugs and whoops and 'good job's. Jack-Jack had drawn them each a certificate in crayon, their names scribbled in the neatest letters the kid could manage, Violet's in purple and Dash's in orange.

Dash nearly choked on his water seeing his father's face when he told him their first foe was Bomb Voyage. The towering man's voice nearly cracked when he echoed, "Bomb Voyage?" Dash shot Violet a look, and she rolled her eyes.

And, the very next morning, Violet and Dash were wrestling and elbowing each other over who got the last of the breakfast bagels, the teamwork of the previous night shoved aside in their minds.

That was how they worked. On the field, they were like a well-oiled machine. It was almost as if they could read each other's minds (and, as far as the public knew, that's what they were doing; they didn't know if they had telepathy powers or not). As Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl slipped closer and closer to the age where they would be forced to retire, they thought every day about how they couldn't be prouder of their children and the work they did.

But, at home, you'd never guess that they were the same supers if you didn't already know them. Until Violet moved out to live with her fiance Tony, the two siblings were constantly at odds, using their powers against each other in battles for the television remote. Neither of them went far enough to cause injury, but bickering was a part of how they loved each other.

Nobody except a sibling could relate to their dynamic, but nobody but Violet and Dash could _understand_ it, not really. They were brother and sister, yes, but they were also products of the same childhood trauma.

Nobody else had experienced Nomanisan Island the same way they had. Their parents had been there too, but they were adults. Adults with experience in fighting crime. Violet and Dash had nothing except their powers. Powers that they had never been allowed to truly exercise before.

Neither of them blamed their parents. How could they? Bob and Helen hadn't known that their son and daughter were going to be on that island with them. And Violet and Dash were children, they hadn't known better at all. The blame went to nobody.

Despite the fact that the Parrs had all moved on from this guilt, the years washing any remnants of self-blame away, the effects of the island stayed. They were scars on the family's heart. Healed scars, but scars nonetheless.

Violet and Dash had become closer after the event. You don't exactly flee from a group of soldiers intent on killing you and your sibling without coming out the other end closer, especially if you're as young as those two were.

Nightmares happened quite often, and they always led to the victim of the bad dream going to sleep in their sibling's bed, no questions asked. It was one of the only times they were outwardly kind to each other at home.

Neither of them told their parents about the nightmares. They would have freaked out if they knew, and Violet and Dash couldn't go see a therapist about it, anyway. What were they supposed to tell the shrink? "I almost died because I followed my super mom on her super rescue mission to save my super dad on a super-secret island"?

On top of the nightmares, certain everyday sights would trigger thoughts of Nomanisan. Violet saw her brother flinch every single time they fired the starting gun at his track meets. Dash noticed his sister's development of a sort of claustrophobia when she was under something tall. He guessed it reminded her of when the Omnidroid almost crushed them.

If one of them noticed the other having one of these flashbacks or memories, they'd try and pull them out of it. Whether the gesture was met with a smile or not (sometimes the gesture was a punch to the arm), they both knew it was appreciated.

The island had shaped them, for better or for worse. Superheroism was in their blood, but it's possible one or both of them wouldn't have gotten into hero work if their first battle hadn't solidified their destiny as supers in their mind. And, even if one of them had gone into hero work and the other hadn't, it wouldn't have felt right. It didn't _feel right_ when they were fighting without the other by their side. It was like missing a limb.

On top of the island stuff, it was a completely unique experience growing up as a super. Until Dash was about ten, they were both discouraged by their parents from using their powers. Not forbidden, but discouraged, in case they were seen by anyone.

They could use their powers in the house, but it wasn't the same. When they were out, which was most of the day, it felt like they were suffocating at times.

Was this what their parents felt like, too? Not being able to stretch an arm to reach something at the grocery store, or being able to be strong, but not _too_ strong?

Bob and Helen never had childhoods. Violet and Dash knew this. The Parr parents, along with almost every other super, were the creation of a government lab. They were intended to be used as living weapons in the last World War, but were ultimately sent to live amongst the rest of humanity. They had been adults their entire lives, with no parents or family to speak of at all, until they married and settled down. Truthfully, it was a miracle that they had managed to have children at all.

Helen had an easier time adjusting to civilian life than Bob did, but they both sympathized with their kids. Being created as a tool of warfare was a unique kind of trauma in and of itself, but it was just a whole different experience _growing up_ with superpowers (not to mention going through _puberty_ with superpowers). Not better or worse, but different.

Violet and Dash had bonded over this, as well. Their petty sibling fights had always involved forcefields and supersonic running and invisibility. It was their way of letting off steam, giving themselves a chance to flex their metaphorical muscles.

Violet and Dash had been through too much together to be anything but partners in heroism. They had both wondered about the possibility of Jack-Jack joining them when he was older, but the young boy seemed more interested in different types of indestructible fabrics rather than hero work.

As they grew closer to adulthood, they both knew they wouldn't ever go solo once they broke off from the family, but neither of them said it out loud.

The fact that the names Penumbra and The Dash always went together was just a truth in both of their minds. It didn't need to be said. Not between them, anyway.


End file.
